HARRISBURG, Pa. — A 69-year-old Gettysburg man will serve life in prison for killing a confidential informant who was scheduled to testify against his brother almost 30 years ago.
Willie Tyler was sentenced Wednesday in the Middle District Court of Pennsylvania by Chief Judge John E. Jones III, according to acting U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler. Tyler was charged with witness tampering by murder and witness tampering by intimidation, Brandler said.
He was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Friday, to commence serving his sentence.
Tyler participated in the brutal murder of a law enforcement confidential informant from the Carlisle area who was scheduled to testify in Cumberland County Court against Tyler's brother, David, on the day she was killed, Brandler said.
Tyler planned to murder the victim, along with four other individuals, who were convicted for their role in the murder in previous federal and state court proceedings, Brandler said.
Tyler was first tried in state court in 1994, and acquitted of the murder, Brandler said. The case was then adopted for federal prosecution, and Tyler was convicted after a federal jury trial in 1996.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit overturned Tyler’s conviction, and he was convicted again following a re-trial in 2000.
In 2013, the Third Circuit overturned the 2000 conviction in light of a change in the law and remanded the case to the district court for a new trial.
Tyler was then tried and convicted for the third time in July 2017, Brandler said. The jury returned its verdict after only two hours of deliberation following a four-day trial.
In February 2018, the district court vacated the jury’s verdict, concluding that there was insufficient evidence to support the convictions. The government appealed, and in April 2020, the Third Circuit reversed the district court’s decision and remanded with instructions to reinstate the jury’s verdict and proceed to sentencing.
Tyler then petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit’s decision, but the Court denied his petition on May 17.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and the Pennsylvania State Police with cooperation from the Carlisle Police Department.
The case was previously prosecuted by former Assistant United States Attorneys Gordon A. Zubrod and Chelsea Schinnour and Assistant United States Attorney Joseph J. Terz. Assistant United States Attorney Carlo D. Marchioli handled the most recent appeal and sentencing.
